Just A Moment
by ExtremeRainbowRaiderPrincess
Summary: Moments in time for Lara and Co. First fic on site!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I only own Trish; the rest doesn't belong to me. Everything else belongs to its/their respected owners, so don't sue._

_Just a Moment_

Lara looked down at the grounds of the manor, Trish, Zip, and Kurtis all running around with water balloons and throwing them at each other.

Lara smiled as Trish and Zip ganged up on Kurtis, who was using his telekinesis against them. She laughed when he got soaked before the other two ran into the maze, dodging flying water balloons.

In the months since they found Kurtis, stopped Karel once-and-for-all, and Lara's name was cleared of any charges, everything had changed for the better. Trish had lightened up, Kurtis stuck around, and Zip… Zip stayed the same.

"Madame Croft," Winston said as she turned. "Mr. Fletcher is calling from Cairo- He says it's urgent."

Lara sighed and nodded. "I'm coming." And the moment was gone.

On the grounds, Trish and Zip stifled laughter as Kurtis cursed, attempting to find them in the maze.

"You think he'll find us?" Trish whispered, peering around a corner before leaning back.

"I know I will." Kurtis said before they were soaked.

"Ah!" Trish screamed, the water cold, before taking off in one direction, Zip laughing as he took off in another.

Kurtis shook his head before a water balloon hit him in the back. Sputtering, he turned around to see Lara holding another balloon.

"Alistair called," she said, hitting him with the second one, "he says he won't be back for a couple more days."

He glared at her from behind soggy bangs. "Run Croft." He said, a smile on his face, before he chased her.

At the same window Lara had been looking out moments before, Winston watched the grounds with a smile. Everything was better now.

_I know, I know, not what I said I would first publish, but it's a start._


	2. I Hate EMail

_Disclaimer: I still only own Trish. The rest belong to their respected owners, not me._

_I Hate E-Mail._

…_Sincerely, Alistair._

Alistair finished typing a letter for his mother and pressed the 'send' button for his e-mail. Of course, nothing good could come of a fic starting with this.

Error Hiccupping Weasels has occurred. E-Mail will now close. Was the message that appeared as Alistair's jaw dropped before the window, and his message, disappeared.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Alistair cried, falling out of his chair to lie on the floor. "Oh why me?" He moaned, one arm draped over his eyes.

Lifting his arm off his eyes, he sat up and rested on his knees, glaring up at the computer. "That message WILL reach my mother if it's the last thing I do." He growled as the monitor stared back at him.

Climbing back into the chair, he logged back into the e-mail and restarted the e-mail, chuckling evilly. This time it would only take him two hours to compose, and type-up, the e-mail.

E-MailE-Mail-E-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-Mail

…_All my love, Alistair._

Alistair grinned. Hah! Nothing could stop him now!

He pressed the 'send' button and rested his hands behind his head, leaning back with a triumphant grin as he closed his eyes.

_Lovely. Now Mother has my e-mail, so I don't have to worry about that anymore. Now, I have to remember to take my navy suit to the cleaners tomorrow, get some more blueberry coffee, purchase a new tie…_

But as he opened his eyes and leaned forward to shut off the computer, he found his worst nightmare had occurred yet again.

Error Running Squirrels has occurred. E-Mail will now close. The message stated, 'okay' his only option to press to get the annoying little gray box off the screen.

"NO!" Alistair groaned, covering his eyes. "Never," he shook his head, taking his hands off his eyes and pressing his nose to the monitor, "I will **NEVER** admit defeat. Do you understand me?!"

The computer made a weird clicking noise and he leaned back.

"So that's how it's going to be then, is it?! Well, click click claaaaaaaack to you then. En guard!" He shouted before leaning forward and starting another e-mail.

The clock in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen read: 4:04 AM as he typed his third e-mail.

E-MailE-Mail-E-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-Mail

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Awoke the entire manor, well, everyone but Zip, who was seated in the tech room, hacking into something-or-other.

Zip went into the foyer and watched Lara, dressed in gray short and a black tank top, her hair back in a ponytail, run from here room with her dual pistols and to the door leading to the hallway into the library.

Winston shuffled from his room, dressed in black and white stripped pajamas, a black robe, and black slippers, a shotgun in his hands, as he went to the door as well.

Zip shrugged before following them, hoping that if it wasn't something dangerous then that it was funny.

When he reached the library he found Lara standing next to the desk Alistair was seated at, one hand covering her face as she shook her head, her dual pistols resting on the desk, with Winston sitting in a nearby chair, snoring, the shotgun on a table facing the bookshelves, while Alistair was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, where's Alistair…" He stopped as he came around the desk.

Alistair lay on the floor, his eyes wide, as he slowly breathed.

"Is he okay?" Zip asked, nudging Alistair side with his foot.

Suddenly one of Alistair's arms shot straight into the air, one finger pointing up as well. "It's possessed." He hissed, pointing that one finger at the monitor.

"What?" Zip asked as he looked at the screen.

Error Flying Elephants has occurred. E-Mail will now close. The screen read as Zip raised an eyebrow, an obscenely long e-mail in the background, waiting to be sent.

Lara looked at Zip and slowly shook her head, Zip nodding in agreement.

"Okay buddy," Zip said, grabbing Alistair's raised arm and helping his traumatized friend to his feet, "let's get you to bed."

"It's evil. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllll!" He hissed, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Okay then, yeah buddy, sure it is." Zip said, patting his back.

E-MailE-Mail-E-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-MailE-Mail

Later that morning Zip, who had taken it on himself to find out just what was up with the e-mail, took a seat at the desk Alistair had been at the night before, placing his coffee cup down on the wood mere centimeters from the coaster left there.

Speaking of Alistair, he was out helping Winston grocery shop, Alistair in dire need of some fresh air and Winston the only one willing to put up with, "The computer's evil," for hours on end. No one noticed that he was wearing his portable CD player, the music on LOUD.

Zip checked the e-mails quickly. There was an e-mail from Trish: _Sorry if this gets to guys late, but I'm having some troubles hunting down the keys to my rental truck, and I've found a charming coffee shop, and Kurtis has gone AWOL so… Yeah. See ya' when I do. Kisses! –Trish._

He shook his head and chuckled. Leave it to the accountant/supernatural expert of the team to leave such a strange e-mail.

Four e-mails from universities asking to borrow something-or-other artifact, one also asking for Lara to come and speak at a seminar next weekend, Zip didn't really pay attention to those, one from a friend of Lara's, two from the CIA, directed at Zip, Winston's gardening club e-mailing him to let him know that next week he was to bring cheese crumpets to the meeting, and one from Alistair's mother.

_Huh, well, I'm sure Alistair wouldn't mind…_ Zip thought as he grinned, opening the e-mail and taking another sip of his coffee.

_Alistair,_ the e-mail read, _I love you too sweetheart, my bunions have disappeared, and your brother is doing fine, but did you have to ask that in three very long, very detailed e-mails?_

Zip reread that before bursting into laughter.

_Yeah, yeah, I need to work on my writing, but at least this one is longer._


	3. Spring Cleaning

_Disclaimer: I own Trish, nothing else. Everyone else belongs to their respected owner. Again: I only own Trish._

_A/N: Incase you're wondering,__ Trish is an OC I have introduced into the Tomb Raider world. Sorry this updated took so long to get here, but it's here now!_

_Spring Cleaning._

It wasn't a tradition or anything around the manor, but spring cleaning was something they all did when it came around.

Zip:

For Zip it meant cleaning the computer station, and his room. Pizza boxes were put in the recycling bin, sticky notes that were obsolete were put with the boxes as well, laundry that needed to be taken care of shoved in the hamper, the computers were dusted and cleansed in every way possible, and then he started cleaning up whatever was on the computer- In other words several hours of removing music, videos, e-mails, files, and anything else he didn't need on his babies. On occasion a dirty sock or a boot would be found in the area around his station as they cleaned it up, but aside from that it was a light cleaning day for him.

That is, until he stumbled across the mother load of problems:

**40,000 cookies.**

"What the- How could I have missed that?!" Zip shouted, staring at the screen in horror. Sure, some were from websites, some were from software on the computer, but some…

"Who the heck labels cookies 'PinkSquirrelDancing'?!" He shouted.

Alistair stuck his head in the room. "Erm, Zip, I'm not sure what you're shouting about, but would you mind helping me?" He asked.

Zip, jumping at the opportunity to see why Alistair needed his help, jumped to his feet. "Absolutely!" He said, forgetting the computer.

Alistair:

Alistair, as we all have guessed, was a neat person. He kept the library clean, his room was spotless, and he was even willing to help clean up the mess that was Trish's room, not that he needed to today. The only thing that was a mess? His car.

"Alistair- Do you save every receipt you get?" Zip asked as he shoved more receipts into a large trash bag.

Alistair grinned sheepishly. "Always a good idea incase you ever need to return the product."

"This receipt is four years old. I doubt you're returning it now and even if you were I doubt they'd take it back." Zip said flatly.

"What's it for?" Alistair asked.

"A shirt from-" Zip was about to finish when Alistair snatched the receipt away.

"WHAT?! I paid forty dollars for this shirt?! It was supposed to be half-off!" Alistair shouted.

"Chill man-" Zip started to say.

"I will not 'chill'!" Alistair shouted, Lara and Kurtis coming from the house to see what all the shouting was about. "Out of my car!" Zip got out of the car and Alistair climbed in, driving away with one door still open, receipts flying out.

"…Okay then." Zip said.

Lara shook her head before going back inside to continue collecting cleaning supplies.

Kurtis shook his head before noticing Winston inching towards the garage. "Hey! Stay away from my corner of the garage!" He yelled, running into the garage.

Winston hissed before slinking away, back inside to plot.

Kurtis:

Kurtis, being who he was, had a halfway clean room, mostly littered with paperwork or clothes if there was any clutter, so his room was quickly dealt with. His corner of the garage on the other hand, was not.

"Kurtis," CLANG, "I do believe you rigged the place to keep burglars, and Winston, away." Trish said, tripping over a large metal tool box.

"And what's the problem if I did?" He asked as he leaned against a wall.

Winston inched into the room, wielding a plastic bin full of cleaning supplies.

"No! Out!" Kurtis shouted.

Winston glared at him. "Someday. Someday…" He hissed, backing out of the room.

"Okay then. I think aliens got Winston in the night." Trish said, secretly shoving a pile of dirty rags into a box and placing that box on the dumbwaiter.

The doors to the mini elevator closed seconds before Kurtis looked. Trish grinned, widely, and he frowned before turning away and trashing the area even more.

While Kurtis was trashing it even more, Trish continued to squirrel stuff into the dumbwaiter when it returned.

Lara:

Lara had to clean out her closet, that meant dealing with clothes that she didn't want anymore, have Winston mend anything she refused the get rid of but it needed mending, and wash anything that needed washing.

She also had to go down to the hidden area below the manor and clean, since Winston was too old to fight off the spiders, Trish would probably spill the cleaning supplies, making it worse, Kurtis would probably just wander around, Zip refused to go down there, and God only knew where Alistair was. Not to mention she had to deal with her vehicles, but there was time for that later.

So, there Lara was, wielding as much cleaning supplies as she could, in the lower levels, the scaffolding fixed so that she could come up and down easier.

She swept a large pile of dust into a pile, near a dust pail and a stack of trash bags, before grabbing a bottle of floor polish and looking around, sighing. "Oh dear, this is going to take a while."

She began using the broom to knock down cobwebs, abandoning the notion that she could ever polish the floors without an arsenal of floor polish.

Stopping, she watched a very small section of the wall fall and hit the ground. She shook her head. It was such an incredible place, and yet…

It would fall apart if they didn't take care of it.

She turned to notice a cobweb a bit higher than she could reach while swinging the broom in the air, so she grinned before scaling the scaffolding and throwing the broom through the cobwebs, taking them down.

She clapped as the broom hit the floor before she noticed something.

"Oh dear."

Trish:

Knowing that this day was coming, Trish spent an entire week cleaning her room so that when the day arrived, her room was spotless- Save for under the bed which was crammed with books, weapons, and boots, which she hadn't been able to place anywhere else.

That's how she managed to have time to help Kurtis clean.

While Kurtis tossed some boxes around, their contents crashing together, Trish tossed some laundry into the dumbwaiter, God knows why it was down there, before closing the door, the dumbwaiter going up. Winston was ecstatic- At least Kurtis's corner of the garage was getting a little cleaner.

As Kurtis turned to see Trish stuffing a plastic bin full of dirty dishes into the dumbwaiter, a scream sounded through the manor.

Both of them drew their guns and hurried upstairs.

Zip fled the Tech Room as Lara ran out of the secret door, screaming, "Close it! Close it!"

Kurtis reached the door first and slammed it shut, locking it. "What were those things?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Spiders. Large ones." Lara said, dusting her shoulders off.

"But… You're not afraid of spiders." Trish said.

"Let me rephrase this: Large neon green spiders singing in off-key tones and they have black wings." Lara said. "I knew some of the artifacts my father brought home were radioactive."

Zip shuddered. "I'm moving the Tech Room."

Lara nodded. "Good ide-"

A loud crash filled the air as the four of them started at the sound before they looked at each other.

"Who…?" Lara started before her eyes widened. "Winston." She said, taking off for the door leading to the area of the manor she knew Winston would be in, the other three following. "Winston! Hold on! I'm coming!" She shouted, sprinting.

They reached Winston's room as Lara drew her dual pistols before kicking in the door, Kurtis and Trish armed and ready as well.

Zip was staying, wisely, behind them, armed with a pistol though.

"Winston?!" Lara shouted. "Win-"

"Here Madame Croft." Winston said weakly from under a pile of junk, situated in front of an open closet.

Lara gasped, holstering her pistols. "Winston." She hurried over to him, Trish and Kurtis holstering their weapons as well before going over to help dig Winston out. Zip helped as well once he saw where Winston was under the pile of junk.

"Winston, buddy, how did you get under there?" Zip asked once they had freed Winston and he was resting in a nearby chair.

"I just opened the door…" Winston said wearily as Kurtis stared at the pile.

"Is that my…" He picked up his Chirugai. "What in world? Why is this here?" He asked, looking at Winston.

Lara turned and looked at the pile before her eyes widened and she picked something up before looking at Winston. "The Scion? Winston- This belongs in the vault!"

Winston smiled sheepishly. "I know that… But I forgot the combination to get into the vault."

She groaned and slapped her forehead. "Zip- It's time we install a retina scanner on the vault." She said.

Zip wasn't listening as he fished the match to the boot he had found under the pizza boxes out of the mess. "There's my other boot!" He said, his eyes wide.

Trish moved the pile around with her boot before stopping and snatching something up.

"Here's my orange lamp!" She said, holding it up.

Zip, Kurtis, and Lara looked at Winston, who grinned sheepishly. Lara groaned, slapping her forehead. Who knew that Winston could have so much squirreled away?

_Yes! I am back! Review if you want, don't if you don't. And __Shatter__ has moved to the crossover section. It's with __Supernatural__. Thank you for reading!_


	4. Alistair Vs The Return

_Disclaimer: I own the OC's. That's it. Extreme Owns= The OC's. Someone Else Owns= Everything Else. Yep- That's it._

_A/N: For once I really don't have much to say except: Sorry. I owe you guys a hundred updates, and though I can't exactly say I have a hundred updates for this story, I can let you guys know that I am working overtime to get another update up. For all of our sakes- Don't expect an update tomorrow. I have to update my __Final Fantasy VII__ story too… Wait- That is a lot to say. Oh well._

* * *

_**Alistair Vs. The Return.**_

Alistair drove like a maniac until he reached the shop where he had purchased the over-priced shirt and slammed his car door (he was parked on the sidewalk) before pressing the button on his keys, locking the car. Nodding at the car, he turned and marched into the shop, the receipt in one hand and the shirt in the other.

As he marched towards the return desk, the clerk's eyes widened before she pressed a button under the counter several times.

* * *

Somewhere in another part of the building, and in the security room, a red light flashed on reading 'Crazed Person With Very Old Return'. The two security guards in the room leapt to their feet, abandoning their tea and biscuit snack and running down the hall.

* * *

"Excuse me," Alistair said to the clerk behind the desk as she contemplated screaming and running off, "but I would like an explanation as to why I had to pay twenty dollars too much for this shirt."

The clerk looked around nervously. "Oh, right… Well," she cleared her throat, "we-we might have been experiencing computer errors that day… Besides, unless you have the receipt-"

Alistair held the receipt out.

The woman's eyes widened. "Oh- Oh. That's… Wonderful..." She said sarcastically. _Where are the guards?!_ She wondered.

Alistair sighed. "It's a good thing I still had the receipt. You see- I bought the shirt on a gloomy April day at precisely 2:22 in the afternoon…" He said as he started a very long tale.

_Great._ The woman thought, a little annoyed before Alistair stopped.

"Hold on-" He removed his PDA from his suit coat, using the stylus to scroll through all the notes he had stored away before cheering. "Ah-hah! Found it. Ahem: Anyway- Lara had just left to find the Bermuda Triangle while Trish had left to find the Sais of Chance- Which is very funny since her last name is Saes…"

* * *

The guards, meanwhile, were scrambling down a hallway, people getting out of their way as they rushed towards them.

Out of nowhere a steel tray flew into their path, the first guard slipping on it and crashing to the floor. The second one got out of the way before turning to see a masked figure, cloaked too, standing there.

"I think not!" The figure, a man, said before throwing another tray. "Take that! Haha!"

The guard scrambled out of the way… Only to run onto a slick patch of floor. _'Caution: Ice Skating Hallway'_ the sign said as the guard, still on two feet, slid past.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The guard yelled, skating away.

The masked figure winced before grabbing one of the thrown trays and using it as a skateboard, going after the guard. "And they say skateboarders never get anything done in life." He said, grinning as he skated around a corner.

* * *

"…And then my good friend Zip, who acts like a maniac, found the receipt in my car, which I have to take to the shop next week because it squeaks just a tad more than usual, and after I discovered that I had been charged too much I came here." Alistair finished his long tale, starting with the day he bought the shirt. "So there."

The woman snorted awake, having fallen asleep during the tale. "What? Oh… You're still here… Goody…" She said sarcastically. "So what do you want? An apology?" She asked, now more than a little annoyed.

Alistair frowned. "No! I want a refund!" He yelled, shaking his PDA and the PDA's stylus at the ceiling.

The ceiling a few feet away from Alistair fell in, a tall man in all-black save for a white half-mask like the phantom of the opera crashing through the hole, his cape flaring dramatically.

"Oh my!" The woman gasped.

_This is bad._ The man thought.

"Who are you?!" An old man yelled up at him as the man in black stood atop a metal display of clothing.

_What if I tear my cloak and have to wear my back-up orange one?_ The man in black wondered, doing a flip through the air and landing perfectly on his feet, walking towards the door. _How would I stay stylish and cool while being gothic and blending in with the shadows?_

A shining light shown over a bat- The furry animal I meant, not the object used for baseball, before it said in a deep voice reserved for Count Dracula:

"Do not try this at home children- For the mysterious man seen here today is actually… Well he's not normal." The bat said, blinking.

Alistair screamed girlishly as security finally came running downstairs.

"Hey- You! STOP!" Security yelled, chasing after him.

As the stranger walked off into the sunset, cobalt blue lettering appeared as dramatic, happy music played. _Don't worry… He'll be back… _The writing said, the bat hopping into a small red sports car before driving away down the sidewalk, scaring people.

"GREAT!" Security yelled in unison, slapping their foreheads.

The dramatic music stopped as Alistair blinked in realization.

"Wait a moment- You still haven't given me my refund!" He yelled, the woman behind the desk very angry now.

"GET OUT OF MY STORE!" She screamed, throwing the shirt and receipt at him. "SECURITY!"

"Wha- Oh- Hey…" Alistair said sheepishly, holding the shirt and receipt close as he backed towards the door. "Um yeah… I was just, uh, leaving. Heh heh. So… BYE!" He shouted before turning and fleeing the store.

"Hey! Get back here!" One security guard yelled as they both chased after him.

Alistair climbed into his car, slamming the door and buckling his seatbelt, before starting the car and driving away. "I will never- EVER- Buy anything from that store again." He promised himself as he stopped at a red light.

A receipt somehow drifted into his line of vision and he snatched the receipt off the passenger seat.

* * *

In a nearby park an old lady was feeding the birds and a couple of squirrels with some bread she had brought, a young couple strolled along a small pond, holding hands, a woman sat on a bench while cooing at her baby in its stroller, and a mother with four young children played under a tree.

Everything was peaceful, quiet, and calm…

"WHAT?! I PAID FORTY-NINE CENTS TOO MUCH FOR ICE CREAM?!"

Until Alistair's roar of anger and annoyance was heard.

The birds and squirrels fled, the young man spun towards the sound, knocking his girlfriend into the pond, the baby started crying while its mother panicked, and the children all started panicking while the mother looked upset.

Nice going Alistair.

* * *

Alistair drove to the grocery store, determined to get a refund for the ice cream he had paid forty-nine cents too much for…

…Three years ago, Alistair had bought that ice cream.

_

* * *

_

Sorry that it's taken me so long to update, I feel awful about that, but I've found a new muse… Thanks to the DTV switch I now have more time on my hands to write. So that means one thing: I'll be updating more. Sorry again that it's taken me, what? Two months to update? Sorry. I'll try not to do that again. Next chapter: We return to the manor to see more spring cleaning. And yes, Trish's last name is pronounced 'Sighs'


	5. True Love

_Disclaimer: I, obviously, own the OC's (which do include Trish and her sister) and the story. That's it. If I owned Tomb Raider, then we wouldn't be currently awaiting the reboot. The franchise would still be in the same universe, following Lara while she deals with things NOT involving her mother, Kurtis and his awesome adventures (Yes, I am a KTEBer. Yes, I am so pro Kurtis that when listing my favorite pairings, Lara and Kurtis almost always make #1. Sometimes Alistair/OC [Dragon Age] overthrows them, but that's rare.), and Winston's secret life._

_Author's Note: Hello, my fellow readers and fan fiction fans! ^_^ Yes, 'tis I!_

_...*Crickets chirp*..._

_*Sighs* Fine, for those of you who don't recognize me: I am Raini. I have been on site for over two years, and pretty much two years ago I vanished. Sure, I'd publish things every once in a while, but... I never returned to my precious fics that I had started with. Well, I have now! :D And you can bet that I am going to stick around for a very long time._

_And yes, this is set before Underworld._

* * *

On a warm summer's evening, Winston puttered about the house at a faster pace than usual, obviously excited about something.

"Are you sure you're okay working alone? I only need to speak with Luke for like ten minutes." Patricia "Trish" Saes, Lara's apprentice and friend, asked as Winston shooed her out of the manor.

"I will be fine, Trish. Go and talk to him." He said pushing her out the door.

She smiled at him. "All right, just don't push yourself too-"

Winston kicked the door shut before she could finish her sentence and hurried away.

The clock was ticking closer and closer to the fated hour, and he didn't have much time left to finish his work.

* * *

A half-hour later, Winston crossed his arms as he sat in Zip's chair in the tech room, resting for a moment. Studying the monitors in front of him, he had to smile.

Zip was grilling in the garden's, at the center of the maze, Anaya on a nearby lawn chair talking in a very animated fashion. Zip's smile said everything: The boy loved Anaya more than anything else in the word.

Now if only he'd say something to her about that.

Shaking his head, he turned to the next screen.

Alister and Trish's sister, Charity, were in the library, studying several maps intently. Obviously, they were well on their way to uncovering some secret treasure trove or deadly weapon and that it would only be a matter of time before the usual duo would be heading out the door for their next adventure while Trish went off to another corner of the world, tracking down another matter involving her family's history.

Speaking of their part-time live-in half-breed...

He turned to the third screen.

Standing in one of the other gardens, Trish was on her cell phone, her free hand moving quickly, like she was arguing with someone. From her oversized sunglasses to her baby blue baby-doll dress and matching cowgirl boots, Trish was one of the easiest American's to identify on the property.

He studied her for another moment and saw her smile and look at her boots. Obviously, Trish was explaining something to her boyfriend, trying to make the long-distance relationship they had work, though the vampire who currently held her heart was obviously not "The One".

No, Winston knew what people looked, or felt, like when they met that person. He had, once.

Zip acted that way with Anaya.

And as for the other happy couple...

He scanned the rest of the screens and was a little surprised to not find Lara or Kurtis on any of them.

Ever since Kurtis had moved to England, he had become a central part of Lara's life.

That was true love. The smiles that crossed their faces when they were thinking about the other one, the way they interacted when together, and just the way the air was charged with the love they shared were all indicators to that.

Finally, he saw a glimpse of movement on one of the monitors and wasn't surprised when he saw which one it was.

Near the very back of the estate, Lara had a secret underground vault where she kept the dangerous artifacts. The only way into the vault that was on the property was a cleverly-hidden door in the ground that could only be opened after completing a large stone puzzle.

One of the stones slid into place and seconds later the door opened, Lara and Kurtis entering the shot. They had taken the easy route for getting into the vault: Using Kurtis' telekinesis.

The two were holding hands, and Lara even rested her head on his shoulder, as the approached the gaping hole in the ground.

It was a cute sight. Fitting for those two, as well, since it was cute and a little unnerving all at the same time.

After they entered the vault, Winston uncrossed his arms and groaned as he stood. He had to get ready for the party later tonight, the one that Lara didn't know about.

He smiled as he left the tech room and passed the pile of supplies on the table in front of the cold fireplace.

_Marry me, Lara Croft, _was on a banner at the top of the stack in big red letters on a white background.

True love always won in the end, even if a war had to be waged in order for that to happen.

Tonight was the beginning of Lara and Kurtis' happy ending.

* * *

_Short, sappy, and to the point. What more can an author want? ^_^ Review if you want to. Flamers will have to deal with a proto armed with candy and flowers. o.O_


	6. Bad Luck and Worse Sleep

_Disclaimer: I own the OC's... Which includes Trish Saes... And the story. And then I don't own anything else. Tomb Raider belongs to some awesome person out there, just not me. :( Sad, I know. D:_

_Author's Note: 1: Thank you everyone for all the lovely reviews. ^_^ They made me super happy. 2: LONG LIVE KURTIS __TRENT__! :D 3: I deliberately worded their [Lara and Kurtis'] relationship, or rather, their labels, as "significant other". You can interpret that however you want. Perhaps they're married, maybe they're dating, or... Whatever. I can't think of anything else right now. 4: Pure, original, Raini humor here. Bwahahaha! 5: Yes, this chapter is set at Lara's original estate, the one from TR1-TR:AoD. Not the Legend one. Yes, I did change the layout slightly. She had to have a garage around there somewhere..._

* * *

Rain pelted the window as Winston dusted off another stone bust in the library.

It was another one of _those_ days: Lara was working, Kurtis was out somewhere hunting a monster, Zip was at a tech convention state-side, Alister had locked himself in his temporary office, studying all the books Lara had on an old Chinese legend, and Trish was at a university in Texas, authenticating an artifact and possibly bringing it back with her.

So, in other words, he was alone for the rest of the day.

Sighing, he shuffled over to the secret room holding the Scion and Iris and dragged the vacuum cleaner with him.

Cleaning the manor was a full-time job, let alone cooking for the six people, himself included, living there. There was also the yard work, errands, security issues, and whatever else came up.

Plus, there was always the problems involving people breaking in...

_I need a hobby. Like sleep._ Winston thought, grumbling to himself.

Still, he worked diligently, cleaning the room before taking a break.

He crossed the manor to the kitchen, wondering why Lara hadn't installed elevators in all the manor's yet. She was considering installing one in the main estate, the one with the glass tech room, but those thoughts had gone on hold when she caught word of some magical... Something.

He entered the kitchen and decided that raiding the fridge, while very un-Winston like, was a great idea at the moment.

A half hour, and two-and-a-half sandwiches later, he suddenly regretted the raid.

"Oh dear Lord. I do hope no one decides to try anything. Like those ninjas did..." He grumbled, thinking back.

Too bad Winston's luck was out on holiday.

* * *

CLANG. Clatter... Clatter...

Twelve small black creatures darted through the mansion, having gotten in through an unlocked window.

Dodging and weaving through every piece of artwork that lined the walls of Croft Manor, they were obviously on a mission of sorts and knew where they were going.

Finally, they reached the main hall of the manor and stopped to admire the high ceiling and button near the front door. It was especially amusing to press it and watch the door swing open and shut. They chattered about the decor as they went in the gym and climbed all over the equipment, leaving little soot-covered footprints, staining everything they touched. A few of them even decided to take a nap in front of the giant windows while others decided the practice crawlspace would make a great place to nap.

Still, three stray ones crept down another hallway, following their noses as the delicious scents of cheddar, provolone, mustard, and ham drew them in.

Before the old man making the sandwich had time to register who was there or what was going down, they had taken over the kitchen.

And taken his sandwiches too.

* * *

"So let me get this straight: You've probably got the whole house to yourself and Winston, and all you're going to do is work?" Alex West asked Lara as he helped her carry groceries into the mansion. "Where did everyone go?"

Lara pulled her keys out of the lock and walked into the mansion, Alex following right behind her and closing the door. "Well, Kurtis is in Hawaii chasing a creature with some old friends. Trish is back in Texas acting as a mediator between two of her brothers as they feud. She was supposed to be working too, but plans changed. Zip had a... Conference to go to. Honestly, I think he's just taking a holiday." She said, shaking her head.

"Sounds like him. And what about your faithful bookworm, Alister? He take off for places unknown, or did he just go back to school?" Alex asked as headed towards the kitchen.

Lara snorted. "If he's not locked in his temporary study, then Alister's doing probably the most logical thing of all of them: Visiting relatives peacefully. After that return meltdown he had, he decided that going back to his roots could be a refreshing change. Much better than the vase-throwing that goes on in the Saes house-" She stopped and gasped as she and Alex reached the doorway of the kitchen. "Winston, what's happened?" She asked, hurrying to her butler's side as Alex put his bags down and hurried over to the back door in the kitchen, peaking out the window.

As Lara knelt next to Winston, he groaned. "It's... It was from everywhere the turkeys appeared..." He whispered.

"Turkeys? What are you talking about?" Lara asked Winston as Alex spotted some movement from within the hedges near the kitchen door.

"We gotta get to a safer location." Alex said as he clicked the lock on the door into place before moving away from it and back to Lara and Winston. "Preferably one that's either easy to defend or has a great escape route."

Lara thought about that as she and Alex helped Winston to his feet. "The garage. It's our best bet. The driveway is too open." She finally said.

"No, not turkeys. Bats. No, no... Koalas!" Winston proclaimed as Lara helped him out of the kitchen before leading him down the hallway back to the main hall, Alex closing the kitchen door behind them, though the double-hinged door with no lock was virtually useless.

Alex and Lara exchanged concerned looks over the top of Winston's head, both thinking the same thing: _What. The. Heck?_

The clattering of falling swords- mounted on the walls partially for decorative reasons, but mostly for fast-access weapons- alerted them to movement to their left.

Lara and Alex both froze before Alex met Lara's eyes over the top of Winston's head. "Get him out of here." Alex said, moving away from the two.

"Alex, don't." Lara hissed, reaching one hand out to him. "Let's go. Please." She begged, her eyes silently conveying her fear. _I will not go through __Siberia__ again._

But Alex just looked at her quickly, a smirk crossing his features. "I know what I'm doing, Lara." He chided her with.

And then he moved even further away from them, tracking the sounds of the intruders.

Lara bit the inside of cheek to keep from yelling at him and hurried Winston along.

* * *

Once Winston was safe in Zip's beloved van, Lara went back into the manor to find Alex.

It was slow going, since she had to check every room she passed as she approached the main hall just to make sure he wasn't playing a joke on her. Eventually, though, she returned to the main hall.

"Alex? Are you all right?" She asked, slowly stepping away from the doorway she was standing in.

Silence greeted her as she surveyed her surroundings.

_I can't believe it- I'm being forced to creep around in my own home! This would be one thing if I were a child playing a game, but looking for Alex? _She cringed. _Kurtis is never going to hear about this- EVER._

She moved further into the room, her jaw working as she nervously bit the inside of her cheek. _Where are the others when you need them?_

She had begun to grow wary with suspicion. Had Alex deceived her and was currently making off with some priceless- and most likely dangerous- artifact? She shook her head to clear her noisy thoughts...

And nearly shot Alex when he appeared from the secret room- the one with the Scion and Iris- laughing at her.

"Gah! Alex, what is wrong with you?" She snapped at him, oblivious to the tiny creature in his hands.

"Nothing's wrong with me, Lara," Alex said, his voice rich with laughter. "In fact," he held the creature in his hands up so that it was next to his face, "I made a new friend."

"Mew." The pitch-black kitten meowed, its crystal blue eyes- which were similar to Kurtis'- a little unnerving to Lara.

"Just where on earth did you find that?" Lara gasped, holstering her duel pistols.

As she crossed her arms angrily over her chest, another kitten dropped out of thin air and landed on Alex's shoulder.

Needless to say, Lara's big brown eyes grew even larger.

Slowly, like a heroine in a horror movie, she looked up.

Startled, she took an involuntary step back, her arms falling to her sides.

There were kittens... On her_ ceiling!_

"What did you do?" Lara asked, a thousand different situations going through her mind. "And what are those things?"

Alex walked over to Lara and transferred the kitten in his hands to his shoulder. He then carefully took the other one down and placed it on Lara's shoulder. "It's a kitten, Lara."

The British woman stiffened as the kitten began licking her hair. "It most certainly is not, Alex!" She said, for once worried that she was going to catch something.

Alex shrugged. "Okay. So they have fangs," one flew by using kitten-sized, feather-covered, black wings, "wings," a another trotted past them and a suit of armor began floating, "and telekinesis. Workplace hazard. You of all people should know that." He said with a lazy shrug, looking away from her.

That's when Lara spotted the twin bite marks on his neck.

"A- Alex?" NOW Lara was getting scared.

Alex looked back at her and really scared Lara- while Winston climbed the wall behind him. Winston was already more cat then human, she was shocked to see.

That's when she realized...

Alex, too, was turning into a cat.

As Alex opened his mouth, presumably to meow...

* * *

Lara sat up with a gasp, instinctively lashing out at whatever had awoken her.

Her foot connected with the offender, sending it or them flying as she tried to figure out what had just happened.

"OW!" Kurtis yelled as he landed on the floor, having been literally kicked out of bed by his significant other. "What the hell, Lara!" He yelled, trying to untangle himself from the sheet that had gone with him. "Ack! Help me out here! I can't get free!"

Lara seemed to not hear him as she climbed out of bed, grabbed a nearby hidden knife, and took off running from the room.

"Lara! LARA!" Kurtis yelled in desperation, losing the battle with the sheet slowly but surely.

* * *

Lara, meanwhile, ran to the next room, heading for Winston's room.

There was only one way to know if it had all been a dream...

SLAM!

Winston sat up in bed, having been awakened by the crash of the door colliding with the wall- and the convenient thunder shower starting right then- as he pulled his sleep mask off.

"Lara?" The butler squinted as Lara turned on the light. "What's wrong? Are we getting attacked by ninjas again?"

The elusive ninja incident had, once again, managed to worm its way into a conversation.

Lara's eyes misted over and she ran across the room, throwing her arms around him when she reached him.

"Oof!" Winston grunted as Lara grabbed him in a vise-like hug.

"Oh thank God you're all right!" Lara said, tears threatening to form in her eyes.

Winston gently hugged Lara back, really worried now. "Has something bad happened, child?" He asked her.

Let shook her head as she let go of him. "No, I'm fine Winston." She smiled as she sniffled. "Truly."

Winston nodded slowly. "If you're sure..."

"I am. I am really, truly sure. Go back to sleep." Lara said, patting Winston on the shoulder. "Oh, and... Never change, okay?" She asked him with a smile on her face.

Winston nodded. "Never, Lara, will I change."

Lara nodded back. "I am relieved to hear that. Very."

* * *

Lara returned to her bedroom with a smile on her face, unfazed by her nightmare, because it was just that. A nightmare. Nothing more, and nothing less.

She calmly went over to the slowly-wriggling mass that was Kurtis, trying to caterpillar-crawl his way away from the bed, presumably to get help. Without thinking twice, she cut the sheet open, freeing Kurtis from his Egyptian-cotton prison.

"Freedom!" The American man shrieked, rolling free. "What took ya so long to help?" He asked as he gasped for air, using his powers to ball the sheet up and throw it out the door into the hallway. He then used his powers to slam the door shut and moved some furniture in front of it.

"Just a bad dream, love." Lara said, helping the love of her life climb to his feet. She rested one hand on his shoulder and stood on tiptoe, quickly pressing a kiss to his lips. "I love you."

Kurtis raised one eyebrow at her suddenly cheerful demeanor. "I love you too, babe." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "What brought that on?"

Lara shrugged. "Nightmare."

Kurtis nodded and watched as Lara climbed back into bed, settling in for- hopefully- a peaceful sleep.

"Uh, Lara?" Kurtis suddenly said just as Lara began to drift off.

"Hmm?" She hummed, her eyebrows rising, yet her eyes were still closed as she felt the bed shift.

"There's a... Cat on the bed." Kurtis said, sounding a little confused.

Lara opened her eyes and found herself nose-to-nose with a pitch black cat with bright blue eyes.

Needless to say, her scream woke up the whole household... And maybe even the neighborhood.

* * *

_Will I ever explain just what the ninja situation was? ...Maybe. We will just have to wait and see, dear reader. ;)_

_Review if you want to. Flamers will now have to direct their flames at my secretary... The proto. ^_^_


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